Pavement lifter



I Did-'31, 1967- E. F. SIMPSON ETAL 3,349,933

PAVEMENT LIFTER Filed Dec. 27. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.

Edward F. Simpson Frank W. .Slhvpson, Jr. IN VENTOKS.

BY ZW 3 M1 1967 E. F. SIMPSON ETAL 3,349,933

PAVEMENT L IFTER Filed Dec. 27, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 66 Fig. 5 E

46 26 46 62 6 M\ x \\W K i Edward E Simpson Frank W Simpson, J/t

IN VENTORS.

m Mm -May United States Patent Office 3,349,933 PAVEMENT LIFTER Edward F. Simpson, 524 Sandra Ave., Daytona Beach,

Fla; 32014, and Frank W. Simpson, Jr., 2320 S. Penin'sula Drive, Daytona Beach, Fla. 32018 Filed Dec. 27,1965, Ser. No. 516,406 Claims. (Cl. 214-145) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lifting attachment for a front end loader which includes a plurality of laterally spaced aligned lifting tines interconnected by bar members. Each of the tines includes an elongated slot extending inwardly from the rear end thereof for the reception of the lip of a loader bucket with the tines subsequently being bolted directly to the slot received bucket lip.

This invention relates generally to improved lifting devices, and more particularly to novel pavement lifting attachment units adapted for mounting on the power operated bucket of a front-end leader or the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide novel lifting attachment units for front-end loaders or other excavation machines having power operated buckets thereon thereby enabling the machines to be used for pavement lifting as well as their usual excavation functions.

'to a power operated bucket including a plurality of parallel spaced apart lifting arms or tines useful for lifting pavement sections without damage thereto.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel lifting attachment unit for front end loaders which may be quickly bolted to the digging lip of a bucket in order to lift pavement and/or side walk sections, the attachment or unit mountable on a bucket without necessity of modification of the bucket.

Thesetogether with other objects and advantages which will becomes'u'bsequently apparent reside in the details if construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side elevational View of a frontend loader with the pavement lifting attachment of the present invention mounted in place thereon;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the front-end loader and pavement lifting unit illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial side elevational view similar to that of FIGURE 1 illustrating the power-operated bucket and pavement lifting unit attachment in a second position;

FIGURE 4 is a partial enlarged view similar to that of FIGURE 1 with portions in vertical section;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially on a plane of the line 55 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the pavement lifting attachment unit comprising the present invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, refer ence numeral 10 generally denotes a front-end loader of conventional configuration including the front wheels 12 and 14, the body 16, as well as the usual power operated 3,349,933 Patented Oct. 31, 1967 bucket 18 supported by lift arms 20 and 22 and tilt arms 24 and 26. The bucket 18 is movable to a variety of positions by means of the lift and tilt arms, the buckets normally being able to be rolled and tilted in order to scoop and dump during an excavation operation. The bucket 18 includes a digging lip 26 which will normally be used for scooping earth or other material into fhe interior bucket chamber 28. Thus, it will be appreciated by viewing FIGURES 1 through 4 in particular, that the front-end loader 10 with power operated bucket 18 thereon is a generally conventional power operated excavation machine.

The pavement lifting attachment unit is generally denoted by reference numeral 30 and is mounted on the digging lip 26 of the bucket 18 whereby it will be useful for lifting pavement sections such as that illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 5 and denoted by reference numeral 32. The unit 30 mounted on the bucket will still enable the bucket to be rolled and tilted by the aforementioned lift and tilt arms, thereby enabling the unit 30 to lift a pavement section 32 while preventing any breakage or damage thereof.

The pavement lifting attachment unit 30 comprises a pair of parallel spaced apart mounting bars 34 and 36 on which are mounted a plurality of parallel spaced apart lifting tines, each generally denoted by reference numeral 38, and each being substantially identical in construction. The lifting tines 38 each includes a body portion 40 which is a generally upstanding preferably metallic plate having mounting holes therein for mounting the lifting tines on the mounting bars 34 and 36, as best illustrated in FIG- URES 5 and 6 for example. Each lifting tine 38 includes a portion 42 which extends forwardly of the mounting bar 36 and will be useful for lifting, thereby being described as the lifting arm portion, as well as a rearwardly extending portion 44, best known as the mounting portion. A horizontal lifting plate 46 is mounted at the top of the body portion or plate 40, and is perpendicular thereto, the body portion being cut away as indicated by reference numeral 48 in order to provide a slot or recess 50 between the body portion 40 and the lifting plate 46 in the mounting portion 44 of the lifting tines 38. A ground engaging plate or skid 52 is mounted in perpendicular relationship to the bottom edge of the body portion or plate 40, the body portion or plate 40 converging forwardly at the lifting arm portion thereof whereby the ground engaging plate 52 will also converge forwardly and upwardly meeting the lifting plate 46 as indicated by reference numeral 54. Thus, it will be appreciated that the forward end 54 of the lifting arm portion 42 will be more easily shoved or pushed under a pavement section 32, as illustrated best in FIGURE 4 for example, in order to lift the pavement section, at which time further movement of the lifting tines 38 under the pavement section 32 will cause further lifting of the pavement section due to the rearwardly diverging nature of the lifting arm portion 42.

Each lifting time 38 has a reinforcing plate 56 mounted on the lifting plate 46 and coextensive therewith through a portion thereof, the reinforcing plate extending throughout the mounting section or portion 44 of the tines 38. A slope face 58 is provided at the forward end of the reinforcing plate 56, sloping downwardly to the lifting plate 46, whereby as the tines 38 are pushed under the pavement section 32, the pavement section will readily slide up onto the reinforcing plate 56.

Referring now to FIGURES 46- in particular, it Will be observed that each lifting tine 38 includes a bolt receiving bracket 60 thereon, each bracket including a horizontally extending leg 62 and a substantially vertical leg 64 thereon, the leg 62 attached to the body portion or plate 40, and the leg 64 attached to the ground engaging plate 52 as for example by each being welded thereto. The legs 62, as well as the plates 46 and 56 include coaxial bolt receiving holes therein whereby a bolt such as bolt 66 may be positioned therethrough in order to mount the unit 30 on the digging lip 26 of the bucket 18. Thus, it will be appreciated that the pavement lifting attachment unit 30 will be mounted on the bucket 18 in the following manner: The unit 30 is first placed on the ground, the slots 50' thus being approximately four inches above the ground inasmuch as they are approximately four inches above the bottom of the ground engaging plates 52. At this time, the bucket 18 is moved to a pistion behind the unit 30 and then moved forwardly with the lip 26 moving into the slots or recesses 50 as illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5 for example. It will be appreciated of course, that the digging lip 26 also has bolt receiving holes therein, spaced apart the same distance as the tines 38 are spaced on the mounting bars 34 and 36, and thus, when the digging lip 26 is moved into the slots 50, the bolts 66 may then be mounted through the mounting holes and fastened therein by means of conventional nuts as illustrated in FIGURE 5 for example. At this time, the unit 60 will be rigidly mounted on the bucket digging lip 26 and upon raising of the bucket, the unit will be moved therewith. Further, as will be apparent from the above description, the bucket 18 does not need any major modification thereto in order to mount the unit 30 thereon, the only modification being required is that of drilling four bolt receiving holes therein to receive the bolts 66. Further, it will be appreciated that the unit 30- does not interfere with the normal movement of the bucket 18 as it is moved by the arms 20 and 24, and thus the bucket can still be lifted to scoop and dump positions. This movement is illustrated and may be appreciated by referring to FIGURES l, 2 and 4 in conjunction with FIGURE 3.

It will be appreciated of course, that the unit 30 may include any preferred number of lifting tines 38 thereon, and thus the unit may either be provided with additional or less lifting tines than the four tines illustrated in FIG- URES 5 and 6. This will enable the unit to be used with lifting buckets of various widths, and inasmuch as it will be the usual case that the lifting tines will be equally spaced on the mounting bars 34 and 36, regardless of the number of lifting tines, a unit 30 of lesser width than a bucket such as bucket 18 could be used with that particular bucket.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed,

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with a front-end loader having a power operated bucket mounted thereon, a lifting unit detachably mounted on the bucket comprising, a plurality of lifting tines, means for interconnecting said lifting tines, means for mounting said tines on the digging lip of said bucket whereby said tines will be movable with said bucket as it is moved to various operative positions, said mounting means comprising slot means in each said lifting tine, said bucket lip movable into said slot means, and means for releasably connecting said lifting tines to said lip after it has been moved into said slot means, said first named connecting means comprising a pair of parallel spaced apart tine mounting bars, said lifting tines mounted on said bars and spaced equidistantly and in parallel relation therealong.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein each said lifting tine has a flat-topped lifting arm portion at the front end thereof and a mounting portion at the rear end thereof, said slot means being in said mounting portion and extending longitudinally therealong.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said slot means is in the upper portion of said mounting portion with a major portion of the height of the mounting portion therebelow whereby said bucket lip may be easily moved into said slot means when said lifting unit is supported on the ground and ready to be mounted thereon.

4. A lifting unit attachment adapted for attachment to a power operated bucket comprising a plurality of lifting tines, means for interconnecting said lifting tines, means for mounting said tines on the digging lip of a bucket whereby said tines will be movable with the bucket, said mounting means comprising slot means in each of said lifting tines for the reception of a bucket lip therein, and means for releasably connecting said lifting tines to a bucket lip after it has been moved into the slot means, said first named connecting means comprising a pair of parallel spaced apart tine mounting bars, said lifting tines being mounted on said bars and spaced thereon in parallel relation to each other.

5. The attachment of claim 4 including a reinforcing plate mounted on each lifting time in overlying relation to said slot means along a substantial portion of the length of said slot means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,690,835 11/1928 Ratkowski 37-141 1,856,930 5/1932 Robin 37-142 2,612,280 9/ 1952 Stueland 214- 3,214,041 10/1965 Walberg 214-145 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A FRONT-END LOADER HAVING A POWER OPERATED BUCKET MOUNTED THEREON, A LIFTING UNIT DETACHABLY MOUNTING ON THE BUCKET COMPRISING, A PLURALITY OF LIFTING TINES, MEANS FOR INTERCONNECTING SAID LIFTING TINES, MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID TINES ON THE DIGGING LIP OF SAID BUCKET WHEREBY SAID TIMES WILL BE MOVABLE WITH SAID BUCKET AS IT IS MOVED TO VARIOUS OPERATIVE POSITIONS, SAID MOUNTING MEANS COMPRISING SLOT MEANS IN EACH SAID LIFTING TINE, SAID BUCKET LIP MOVABLE INTO SAID SLOT MEANS, AND MEANS FOR RELEASABLY CONNECTING SAID LIFTING TINES TO SAID LIP AFTER IT HAS BEEN MOVED INTO SAID SLOT MEANS, SAID FIRST NAMED CONNECTING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF PARALLEL SPACED APART TINE MOUNTING BARS, SAID LIFTING TINES MOUNTED ON SAID BARS AND SPACED EQUIDISTANTLY AND IN PARALLEL RELATION THEREALONG. 